In an Alternate Reality
by follow the halo
Summary: A story of Jasmine and Jafar in a different Agrabah. There is no Aladdin in this story, but it takes place in the universe inspired by it. Jafar is not evil, Jasmine and Jafar are just a princess and a vizier looking for love. It's closer in vein to the original Arabian Nights than the Disney version. Take a read, I promise you, you won't even miss Aladdin's absence.
1. Chapter 1

There was once a princess of  
The kingdom of Agrabah  
Her name was Jasmine

She refused to marry  
Any of her suitors  
She was twenty-one and  
Old enough to marry  
Many girls her age  
Were already married  
Her father, the sultan  
Was very worried

For all this while, the princess  
Was learned and cultivated  
In poetry and discussion  
Of worldly affairs  
Most of her suitors were  
Only interested  
In her royal status  
Or did not care enough  
To engage in discussion

The sultan asked Jafar  
His most trusted advisor  
For advice in this matter  
If Jasmine did not marry  
There will not be a royal  
Heir to inherit the throne

Jafar, the grand vizier  
Was silent for a moment  
He suggested the matter  
Be brought to the princess's  
Attention, for she cared  
Greatly for her kingdom  
She might not realize  
How she was jeopardizing  
Agrabah's future

In a private conference  
With her father that night  
The princess sighed deeply  
She agrees to marry  
On the condition that she  
Be let in her father's court  
For all this while, Jasmine had  
Only been a spectator  
She wants an active hand  
In running the kingdom

Disguised as a prince  
She was free to sit among  
The viziers, princes  
And foreign ambassadors  
Then one of them caught her eye  
He lead the discussion  
On her father's behalf  
Polite and gracious  
Able to settle  
Disputes with seeming ease

He was intelligent  
Of that there was no doubt  
But Jasmine found herself  
Discomfited when  
His gaze landed on her  
Drawn by the sound of his voice  
And the gleam of his teeth  
When he smiled at a comment  
He found amusing

Jasmine felt embarrassed  
That her first attendance  
In court, focused not on  
Building political ties  
But on this mysterious man  
Who had captured her heart

Who was he, she wondered  
As she tossed and turned that night  
Did he like poetry, was he  
As accomplished at poetry  
As he was at holding court  
And a darker thought  
Was he already married  
Not surprising then, she had  
Little sleep that night

Jafar wondered why  
A certain prince was  
Unable to hold his gaze  
Surely he must be shy  
New to court as he was  
Unused to presenting  
His views to an audience  
He let the matter settle  
To the back of his mind

What of the princess  
The sultan had told him  
That at Jafar's advice  
He had successfully  
Counselled his daughter  
Jafar expects the  
Wedding to be soon  
That would mean dignitaries  
Visiting Agrabah  
He would have to sort out  
The logistics later

The next morning, the sultan  
Asked his daughter Jasmine  
If there were any  
Dissatisfaction with  
The way the kingdom was run  
Jasmine answered no

However she proposed that  
A poetry competition  
Be held for entertainment  
The sultan agreed, he knew  
How much Jasmine loved poetry  
But he himself would  
Not be present, retiring  
Early to his chambers


	2. Chapter 2

So it was that evening  
The competition was held  
Each man showing off  
His skills in poetry  
While the audience lounged  
On tasselled silk cushions  
Praising those they felt worthy  
Or most entertaining

Alas the favorite  
Subject of poetry that night  
That gave the most cheers  
Was erotic love  
They must have had too much wine  
To drink, Jasmine thought  
If her father could  
Only see her now

Disguised as a man, Jasmine  
Was not spared from bawdy poems  
Replete with lewd detail  
On love-making techniques  
And gross depiction of  
Their lover's anatomy

Then she saw him approach  
The man of mystery  
And asked the person sitting  
Beside her, who he was  
She found out that he was  
Jafar, the grand vizier  
The bawdy poets asked him  
To join their circle

Jafar was stunned, he  
Had never engaged in  
Erotic relations  
So he could not think  
Of what he should say  
Seeing Jafar flustered  
Jasmine intervened, saying  
That love need not be  
In the erotic sense

They manage to excuse  
Themselves, once the others  
Deemed them too boring  
Jasmine took her chance  
To ask Jafar himself  
If he had anyone  
Special to his heart  
He smiled bashfully  
So unlike the confident  
Vizier she had known earlier

They discover that they both  
Had a problem in common  
They wanted partners who were  
Well-read and neither  
Ignorant nor obsessed  
With wealth or status  
Though Jafar would like to  
Fall in love someday  
She should understand that  
His duty to Agrabah  
Comes first and foremost

Jasmine was secretly pleased  
She had found someone who  
Understands the heavy weight  
Of responsibility  
But she was not done yet  
She gestured with her hand  
Towards the royal gardens  
And the darkening sky

Jafar replied, praising  
The twinkling of the stars  
The heady scent of roses  
And the nightingales  
Beginning their song  
He walked on, marveling  
As if everything was  
New and wondrous, causing  
Jasmine to pause and  
Examine the beauty  
She had overlooked

They walked side by side  
Far from the others  
Till it was quite late  
When the moon rose to its  
Full glory in the sky  
Only then did they realise  
The others had probably  
Long departed, their winner  
Presumably chosen  
All that was unimportant  
To Jasmine, for she  
Had found the true winner


	3. Chapter 3

The sultan noticed a change  
In his daughter's demeanor  
She often smiled secretly  
To herself, and she walked  
With a bounce in her step  
Sometimes singing gaily  
It looked suspiciously  
Like she was in love  
He wondered when she began  
Acting in this manner

It was ever since  
She returned from that  
Poetry competition  
The sultan was pleased that his  
Daughter, had found love  
He wondered who the man was  
He must be truly special  
Whether he be commoner  
Royalty or nobleman

So he pulled her aside  
Speaking heart-to-heart  
Father to daughter  
Blushing, she spoke of Jafar  
His very own grand vizier  
The sultan chuckled  
He himself had been  
Wondering when Jafar  
Was going to find a wife  
Needless to say, the sultan  
Was highly pleased with the match  
They were well suited  
To one another

Jafar was called to  
A private audience  
With the sultan himself  
He went with a worried heart  
For fear that he had  
Unknowingly earned  
The sultan's displeasure  
But all that dissipated  
When the sultan greeted him  
With a smile full of warmth

The sultan wanted him to  
Marry his daughter  
But Jafar protested  
That he had never  
Even met the princess  
Then the sultan gestured  
For the veiled figure  
Of Princess Jasmine  
To sit beside him

Only then did Jafar  
Realise where he had seen  
The princess before  
It was the prince who  
Had accompanied him  
On that fateful night  
With his heart pounding  
In his chest, Jafar  
Gently removed the veil  
Covering Jasmine's face

Their hearts filled with joy  
Jafar and Jasmine proclaimed  
Their love for each other  
Witnessed by the sultan  
The whole kingdom rejoiced  
At the wedding of  
Their princess and vizier  
A new grand vizier replaced  
Jafar's position  
For he would become  
The new sultan, ruling  
Alongside his queen

And so ends this happy tale  
With the union of soulmates  
May the kingdom of  
Agrabah, be blessed and  
Prosperous forevermore


End file.
